Massive demand awaits Friday's iPhone 5 sale

By Doug Gross, CNN

Updated 1417 GMT (2117 HKT) September 20, 2012

Photos: Unveiling the iPhone 58 photos

Unveiling the iPhone 5 – Journalists and attendees line up outside of the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco to attend Apple's special media event to introduce the iPhone 5 on Wednesday, September 12. The phone goes on sale in stores Friday.

Apple's initial promise to ship pre-ordered phones in a week, the same day they become available at Apple Stores and other retailers, was pushed back just an hour after pre-orders opened up at midnight Thursday.

Now, it could take up to a month for the phones to ship. Wednesday morning, Apple's online store said a pre-ordered iPhone 5 would be shipped in three to four weeks.

Apple hasn't released up-to-date pre-order numbers. But Piper Jaffrey analyst Gene Munster estimates the company could announce as many as 10 million sales by Monday morning. His "worst case" scenario is 6 million.

"We find it interesting that many tech blogs and reviewers panned the iPhone 5 saying it 'lacked the wow factor' similar to the iPhone 4 that was plagued by 'antenna-gate' and the iPhone 4S which was a relatively 'minor' and 'disappointing' update with Siri as the key new feature," he wrote. "The previous iPhones went on to sell record number of units and we believe iPhone 5 will likely see a similar result."

Brian White of Topeka Capital Markets agrees, saying his initial prediction of 5.5 million sales over the weekend was probably way too low. Apple's stock, which crested at $700 per share this week, could spiral to a mind-boggling $1,100 by this time next year, he said.

Some folks were already seeking to cash in on the wave of popularity Friday -- before they even got their hands on one of the phones.

On eBay, an unlocked, 16GB iPhone 5 had been bid up to more than $1,200 on Friday, presumably by folks in countries where the smartphone won't be released for weeks. Others were selling at prices ranging from $650 to $1,000.

The iPhone 5 will be available at Apple stores in the United States, which will open at 8 a.m. Friday. Also selling them will be AT&T, Sprint and Verizon stores and some Best Buy, RadioShack, Target and Walmart locations. As the debut nears, Apple has dropped the price of the iPhone 4S to $99 and the iPhone 4 is now free with a mobile service econtract.